Kernel compromise via stale nftables flowtable hooks
Published Aug 22, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Use-after-free in netfilter in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to compromise or crash the kernel via flowtable teardown. During network-namespace exit, nf_tables_flowtable_destroy() releases a flowtable before its registered hooks are removed, leaving netfilter hook entries with freed nft_hook and nf_flowtable references. A low-privileged local process can reach the sequence through nftables netlink messages when user and network namespaces permit CAP_NET_ADMIN, with no user interaction.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in netfilter in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to compromise or crash the kernel via flowtable teardown. During network-namespace exit, nf_tables_flowtable_destroy() releases a flowtable before its registered hooks are removed, leaving netfilter hook entries with freed nft_hook and nf_flowtable references. A low-privileged local process can reach the sequence through nftables netlink messages when user and network namespaces permit CAP_NET_ADMIN, with no user interaction.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-48935
- Published
- Aug 22, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 22, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.5
- Affected versionversion=ff4bf2f42a40e7dff28379f085b64df322c70b45 <6069da443bf65f513bb507bb21e2f87cfb1ad0b6
- Affected versionversion=ff4bf2f42a40e7dff28379f085b64df322c70b45 <8ffb8ac3448845f65634889b051bd65e4dee484b
- Affected versionversion=ff4bf2f42a40e7dff28379f085b64df322c70b45 <b4fcc081e527aa2ce12e956912fc47e251f6bd27
- Affected versionversion=ff4bf2f42a40e7dff28379f085b64df322c70b45 <e51f30826bc5384801df98d76109c94953d1df64
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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